


Ahoy!

by orphan_account



Category: RuPaul's Drag Race RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pirate, F/F, Lol this is garbage, Sirens, as a plot device, but enjoy, not as characters, sorry i wrote this stoned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-15
Updated: 2020-06-15
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:53:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,615
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24737227
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: “Gigi, stop this, you’re being an ass.” Jackie turns to address Crystal, but remains in English, slower. “Don’t mind her, Crystal. She’s emotionally constipated at the best of times.”OrPirate AU, Gigi and her crew are sailing after a score that could keep them in rum and pickles forever. When it goes a little wrong, they pick up Crystal instead, and Gigi has a rough time.
Relationships: Gigi Goode/Crystal Methyd
Comments: 6
Kudos: 71





	Ahoy!

**Author's Note:**

> This is the worst ive written in ages lol but enjoy

“No. No, no, no!”

Jackie sighs. Its another wasted trip, days with basically nothing to show for their hard work, and she’s certain that Gigi is about to loose her mind. 

They had heard of a Spanish deal in Mexico. Silver, apparently, and had charted their course towards the port where the Spaniards were due to dock. But it seems that their information was bad, because they had arrived to the after party. Someone else had gotten there first. 

Jackie has worked for the Goode’s as a translator for years. Longer than Gigi had been Captain anyway. She’s seen worse times than this, but she has never been in charge, and even though she watched Gigi grow up on board a ship, she can see the way it is already getting to her. Its clear in the way her dagger is carving a little hole in her prized woodwork by the wheel, ignoring her own rules. 

There was something wrong as soon they arrived. It was too quiet for a mining town, with no locals running the front shops, and no Spanish haunting the shipyard. No ships either, come to think of it. They avoid dropping anchor too close by, for fear of further ambush, and a few of them pile into the rowboat. Gigi’s arms are folded as she scowls by the back.

“Towards the hills, try and keep us outta sight.” Jackie says, taking control for the time being. The others are in a stiff silence while Brita rows. 

There are a number of high dunes nearby, a perfect hiding place, and they pull in far enough away from the main town to avoid detection. Its an awkward walk there. Jackie keeps her eyes out for people hidden in the hills, but the coast seems clear. 

“I’m going to try and see if there are any supplies left in this town. Take the others to the bar, try find recruits.” Gigi doesn’t even stop to give her order, long legs taking her away from the rest of the group quickly as she goes in search of provisions. Jackie wants to stop her, maybe send a few girls after her, but she’s in one of her moods. Its safer for everyone to let her go. The girls could use a drink anyway. 

Gigi is correct, however, they are desperately in need of recruits. The journey here had not been a waste of simple food and grog. There was a haven nearby, further South, but they had never sailed this far before, didn’t know the land, and if this town had already been raided, she can’t imagine there will truly be safety to be found there. 

The crew are exhausted, but there’s a thrill in the air as they approach the only clearly inhabited building on the strip. There’s a man, inebriated beyond the need to stand, outside, and Heidi goes in ahead. She’s a charmer, capable of talking herself out of anything, and she waves them in. 

The bar is dingy, a mess, with breaking stairs and enough distraught looking men hanging around to make it clear they had found their spot. It reeks, but there’s rum behind that counter, and they are thirsty. 

Jackie orders them rounds and they all wander off in random directions, looking for souls drunk or insane enough to join them. Its the perfect time, ironically, as the destruction outside is devastating, and the atmosphere inside is palpable. There will certainly be some people around willing to take off while the going is bad. 

Jackie leans heavily against the bar. Theirs is a female only ship, and as far as the pickings go, its not great. There are only a few women present, and many are older ladies, too set in their ways to make a change as great as what she is requesting. 

Keeping half an eye on the girls, and already wondering how she was going to help navigate using the foreign maps, or how she was going to keep Gigi from bursting an artery in the process, Jackie doesn’t even notice she’s being approached. 

“Um, hello?” It’s heavily accented, in Spanish, and Jackie’s ears prick up in interest. 

There’s a woman standing in front of her, behind the bar. She’s patterned in piercings and jewellery, and if Jackie wasn’t as experienced as she was, she would say this stranger was the pirate, not herself. “Yes?” She says, after assessing there is no threat in the woman’s voice. 

“I’m sorry, boss wants me to ask who you ladies are? It might be obvious, but we recently had some trouble in these parts.” The stranger is sheepish, smiling at Jackie like she doesn’t have two pistols on her person. 

“We’re just passing through.” Jackie says. The bartender only now begins to check her out, and Jackie sees her eyes widen when she finally spots those firearms. 

“No trouble?”

“None at all, just collecting some supplies before moving on.” Jackie is good at reading people, and this woman is about the age she’s looking for, and may know others. “We’re looking for recruits, any here?”

“Sailors? I doubt it, but, um, I can ask around. What’s the pay like?”

“Better than anything you’ll find around here; Captain keeps us well.” 

There’s a moment of hesitation, before the woman extends her hand. “I’m Crystal.”

“Jacqueline.” She gives her real name, because they are continents away from where she is wanted, and she doesn’t go by it anymore anyway.

“I would like to join you then, Jacqueline.”

Jackie barks a laugh. “You can’t be serious.”

“Why not?” The woman – Crystal – looks deeply offended, but Jackie can’t take her seriously while she pouts. She’s soft, that much is clear, too soft for the sea. She looks queasy in a moment of confrontation with Jackie, and even she can admit, she’s one of the least threatening people in their crew. 

Crystal must understand some of that sentiment from the look on her face, and narrows her eyes. Jackie throws her hands up in mock surrender. 

“Look, its not personal, I just doubt you would last.”

“How much would you wager on that?” Crystal’s eyes are challenging, and Jackie smiles. She’s met people like this before, land lovers with no experience, but the zest is there. She looks the girl up and down. She looks strong, and she can handle herself behind a bar, but she’s too excited. Too easily led onto a boat of strangers. 

“Fine.” She relents. “We’re sailing South. It should take little more than a week. Lets see how you do with that time, and if you hold your own, we won’t leave you there when we arrive.” 

The response is instantaneous. Crystal lights up, and throws the dishrag she was using to polish a glass down. “Then its settled!” Jackie explains where to come and find them, and moves on. Even siren bait is useful on a ship, at least for a week, and if this Crystal girl gets scared off on the way, well then there was bound to be others in the next port. 

The girls haven’t found anyone else by the time she regroups with them either, so Jackie takes her win, and sends them back towards the rowboat, explaining where the new recruit would meet them, and goes in search of Gigi. 

She finds her already with a load of supplies and fighting with the merchant to let her borrow his cart to transport them. Jackie helps her tie him up and its no trouble from there. 

“Did we find anyone?”

“Just one, she’s a local.” Jackie doesn’t elaborate, and Gigi doesn’t ask. They travel in comfortable silence alongside the shopkeeper’s donkey, until they reach the boat, where the others are already gathered. No sign of the newbie yet. 

They pack the provisions as jovially as they can, given the circumstances, and Jackie spots the recruit headed their way with a small pack. Travelling light, she’s already doing better than Jackie thought she would, but she’s not regretting her judgement yet. She’s smiling too much. 

“Everyone!” She gets their attention. “This is Crystal.”

Four heads turned to look at the newcomer. Jackie introduced them one by one. Brita, Heidi, Widow. When she gets to Gigi, she sees Crystal is already regarding her with something like amusement. 

“And you’re real pirates?” There’s something too close to laugher on Crystal’s voice. She speaks in Spanish, and Gigi is quick to ask Jackie to translate.   
“She seems to think we’re not the real deal?” Crystal’s eyes narrow, and Jackie wonders how much of that she caught. She never checked to see if she had much English. 

“Why?” She certainly understands Gigi, but it may be the tone of voice more than anything. Not being taken seriously has been one of the Captain’s sore spots since she took hold of the ship at age sixteen, when her mother passed, and the harsh reaction isn’t shocking. Not to the others anyway, but Crystal’s eyes are wide at the sound.

Jackie translates anyway, and Crystal clears her throat. Jackie knows her answer before she says it, because Jackie has always been candid, especially with Gigi. She’s one of the only people who truly is. And she’s made her opinion of her Captain’s… ‘look’ quite clear. 

Despite their trying times, Gigi is done up in her finest. She likes to present an authority over strangers, and a reliable way to do that was to look like one came from money. However… there was a certain line that was thinner than she thinks Gigi can see. 

So when Crystal answers, Jackie lies, tells the others it was an innocent question, and they pile into the boat. The main ship comes into sight quickly, and Crystal could have fallen out of the boat with excitement if Jackie hadn’t grabbed her by her belt to hold her down. 

Gigi meets her eyes as she does, but Jackie just shrugs. Its certainly better than nothing. They have supplies, and someone who hopefully has some lay of the land. It may not be the perfect outcome, and certainly isn’t what they came for, but given the circumstance, they are doing better than Jackie thought they could when they arrived.

There was hope yet this wouldn’t be a wasted mission. 

*

“So we’re going after them, right?”

“Obviously.” Gigi says. She’s looking down at the map with something like understanding on her face, but its not quite there. “There won’t go far with that much silver, they’ll want to sell it on. Trade it.”

“They’ll get away before we get to the haven.” Nicky has navigated for them for only a few months, and her experience was well needed. 

“I’m hoping they will have had the same idea we have. There’s no way they came this far without needing to restock, and the merchant never mentioned them.”

Nicky hums, and goes back to her work. “So we’re going to head them on?”

“Something like that.” Gigi can’t hide that she’s exhausted. Its been days since she’s slept well, and she can’t see that changing soon. The waters here aren’t free of threats, and she doesn’t feel comfortable drifting off. She’s a light sleeper as it is. She excuses herself, and wanders back down to the deck. 

The girls bustle around, getting everything in order to ship out again. There’s people everywhere, but Gigi zones in on Jackie and the new one. Crystal. She’s being given the grand tour, and looks unsteady on her feet. She’s not sure why she’s here, or what she’s running from, and if she was just a little more paranoid, she might have barged over to find out, but for now she trusts everything will be fine. She needs sleep. 

She technically has her own cabin. Its mostly just storage space as this point, but Gigi digs through until she finds her bed, and falls down unceremoniously. Its still bright out, but the room is dark, to best preserve food. It reeks of alcohol, and Gigi reaches for the nearest bottle for a swig. Its all she needs to pass out. 

She wakes not too long after. The sun has fallen but the air is still warm, and Gigi takes the bottle of drink with her when she exits her cabin. She can see Widow and Heidi are still up, and Jackie is leaning down in the wheel half asleep. 

Crystal is there too, and Gigi swallows deeply. She’s not shy, she can’t afford to be, but something about this girl has her stomach in knots. She’s never felt this before in her twenty one years, but she schools herself, and forces her legs to carry her up the stairs and towards the two women. 

“Captain!” Crystal greets her, giving a little salute, and Gigi’s words die on her tongue. She stands dumbly for a moment, trying to force something out, but nothing comes. Its woefully embarrassing to watch a frown form on the other woman’s face. 

Jackie shakes herself. “Gigi, stop this, you’re being an ass.” She turns to address Crystal, but remains in English, slower. “Don’t mind her, Crystal. She’s emotionally constipated at the best of times.”

Crystal snorts a laugh, and says something back in Spanish. Gigi has never felt more alarmed and confused, but stands idly as the two converse, completely unaware of what they were saying. She’s beginning to regret never taking Jackie up on her offer of lessons, but she was hopeless at French and couldn’t see herself being better with Spanish at the time. 

She doesn’t know how to interject, and waits until their giggles die down to speak. “I wanted to introduce myself. I’m Gigi Goode.” She extends her hand for Crystal to take, who shakes it vigorously. 

“I know, but nice to meet you.”

“You speak English?” Gigi’s question comes easily, and it’s the first words to do so since she woke up. 

“Only a little.” 

“She’s a clever one! Gauging the territory before she gives away too much!” Jackie chimes in, squinting ahead of them to try and spot anything in their way. “You might manage yet.” 

Gigi doesn’t quite know how to further the conversation, but she shares her drink around them, and watches Crystal gag at the taste. Its truly not a good mix, but its fortified with lemons and its better than most. She would have to get used to it either way. 

“If you can’t handle that, wait ‘tiil you taste the food!” Heidi pulls herself up the stairs and deposits herself down on the railings. Crystal winces. “Yeah. No one thinks about that!” 

The drink is shared around, and girls come and go as their sleep schedule demands it, until the sun begins to rise again in the sky. It’s a clear, hot day, just like the last, and Gigi’s eyes sting under it. 

“So, have you sailed much before, Crystal?”

“Never, but its not bad.” Gigi can’t believe she’s never been on a boat like this, because she’s not green and hanging off the side. Nicky was that way for almost a whole month before she settled in. Gigi had to practically tie her down to the boat to stop her falling out. 

She feels hot under the collar now. Things have been so hectic lately, between everything, that she hasn’t spent any time with her own crew, but this was a lot, and she was feeling the drink go to her head. And with that, losing control of her eyes. 

Crystal has probably been awake at least a whole day and night, but she’s smiling with the sun on her back, and Gigi feels that feeling again, deep in her gut. She hands off the bottle and makes her way down to the lower decks. The sun was too hot on her skin, and she ducks into the shade from the sails. 

She’s never felt intimidated by someone on her ship. She’s been distrustful, or wary, but never intimidated. 

Maybe that’s what this is. 

She doesn’t see why though. Crystal is as scary as… as well, Heidi. When she’s not smiling, she’s laughing, and Gigi hasn’t even spotted a weapon in her belongings when she boarded. And its not as if Gigi takes a special interest in any previous blow ins. 

She looks up, trying to catch another glimpse, and Crystal is already looking back down at her. They lock eyes for a moment, and Crystal’s head quirks to the side for a moment, before she’s distracted away by someone else, and Gigi moves on towards her bunk again. 

While the coast is clear, she needs to recharge. 

*

Crystal comes and finds her after Gigi managed two days of avoiding her. It was difficult, given the small space they were both trapped in, and Gigi had prided herself on the streak, but Crystal didn’t care about that, it seems. 

Gigi is counting portions of dried beans, trying to work out how much they would need for the journey back, when Crystal bursts in, looking confused and out of breath. 

“Captain, hi!” Her voice causes Gigi to lose her number, but she doesn’t mourn it, and turns on her heel. 

“Gigi.” She replies. “Call me Gigi, everyone else does.”

Crystal says her name then, testing it out, and it sounds so lovely that Gigi is momentarily immobilised. She clenches her jaw. 

“I’ve been looking for you.” Says Crystal, and it makes the hairs on Gigi’s neck stand tall. 

“Really?” She asks, before realising how foolish she sounds. She feels a blush on her cheek that had nothing to do with the heat. 

Crystal gets a look in her eye she hasn’t ever seen before on the other woman, but it’s gone before she can identify it, and she’s just smiling again. “Yes, Jackie sent me.” 

“Oh, of course.” Gigi collects herself, and strides past Crystal as quickly as her legs will take her without running. She hears a laugh from behind her but can’t bear to turn around and look. 

When she gets outside, she quickly looks around for Jackie, and can’t find her anywhere. She storms around until she finds her sleeping in the brig, and almost wakes her, but pulls back at the last second. Jackie was like her, and she deserved whatever sleep she could get. Whatever it was could wait. 

Crystal is sitting owlishly on a barrel of water when she emerges back to deck, and Gigi slows when she sees her. Its difficult to walk past her, like she’s in a dream, and Crystal smirks at her when she finally makes it past. Like a cat trying to sneak past another cat in an alleyway, Gigi runs with her tail between her legs. 

She’s humiliating herself and she knows it, but she can’t be around Crystal. Its as if she were drunk in the other woman’s presence, even before she has a sip of alcohol, and its impeding her judgement. She feels like a failure, as more and more of her tasks fall on Jackie while she stares into space. Its distracting, but she doesn’t know how to wave away the tension. 

Crystal doesn’t let her get far, and she feels her hand, softer and less calloused than her own, grip her wrist and pull her to a stop. Her entire body goes tense, and she trips over her boots before Crystal catches her. 

“Are you okay, you look, um, hot?” Crystal’s eyebrows are knitted together in thought. “That’s not the right word… but are you well?” 

Gigi knows she must look insane, and can’t calm the way her eyes are flitting wildly across Crystal’s face. She really is beautiful, and Gigi forces herself to speak. “I’m okay.”

“Alright.” Crystal lets her go. She always looks like she knows something Gigi doesn’t, and its irritating. She almost wants to put on her Captain face and order that smile off her face, but she knows it wouldn’t come out sounding very commanding. She can’t even string a sentence together in front of this woman on a good day. 

She’s too late now anyway. Crystal is already some ways away, and Gigi can finally think clearly again. It’s a shame, because her body is still on fire where Crystal touched her, and she’s craving more. 

She’s makes a quick promise to herself to try harder. She needed to get over whatever this was. One way or the other. 

*

Crystal keeps her on her toes, and Gigi is quick to regret forcing herself to make the effort to speak more with her. 

“What do you mean you can’t swim?” The words are mocking, and Gigi feels herself turn red. 

“Not very many of us can.”

“But you’ve been on a boat your whole life! You can’t tell me you cannot swim.”

“No one ever taught me.” Gigi feels foolish under Crystal’s eyes. She’s clearly fighting back laughter, but Gigi can’t understand why. It’s truly not common for pirates to swim. Knowing how to swim simply means a longer time drowning if you fall overboard. That knowledge seems to be lost on Crystal though. 

“When we dock, I’m going to teach you.” She says, steadfast and confident. Gigi doesn’t like the sound of it. The sea isn’t a kind place, and despite her relationship with it, she would rather avoid letting it consume her entirely. She’s heard its meant to be a good death, drowning, but can’t imagine who could have lived to say that. 

She’s fallen in water before of course. But never past her waist and certainly never with the intention of staying there long. The water is for fish, monsters, and corpses, and nothing more. 

“I’m not a good student.” She says, finally, and Crystal levels her with a curious look. 

“I think I can handle you.” She speaks like she doesn’t make Gigi’s chest cave in. 

She can’t tear her eyes away from her, and Crystal is just staring at her, regarding her with something she’s not used to seeing. She can feel a blush rise up her neck and across her cheeks, and opens her mouth to try and say something (anything), when the boat rocks viciously. Crystal loses her footing and stumbles forward into Gigi’s arms, as the yells of the other women ring around them. 

A curse rings its way out of Gigi, and she tightens her grip on Crystal’s arms for a moment, before she takes her hand and pulls her forward. They need to be outside. She can already hear Jackie screaming orders, and panics. Jackie doesn’t lose her cool easily. 

“What’s going on?” Gigi shouts, dropping her hold on Crystal as the fresh air hits her face. Its spitting cold, not like earlier, and the sky is dark and grey. “Jackie?”

“Sirens!” 

The word has Gigi’s blood running cold. They shouldn’t be here. She’s never heard of them in this area, but then again, what did she know about sirens. It was like she had been on a different frequency, but once Jackie’s shouting had reached her ears, she could hear them. 

A sickly stream of sound rang dulling across the air, not quite close enough to have an effect, but time was running out. “Everyone tie down!” 

Gigi rushes up to the wheel. She can see them from there, a group of three greenish figures, sitting upon the water as if it was solid. She can see that they have spotted them, as their long arms began waving erratically, like an old friend calling out to the ship.

“Jackie?” She asks, and the Persian is already throwing a rope towards her. She catches it and begins working on securing herself to the metal rings embedded in the panels by the wheel. Nicky had explained this way of ensuring the crew when she had boarded, and Gigi was quick to implement it. 

She cuts off the end of the rope once she’s done and hands the rest off to Crystal. She had followed her up, and a part of Gigi is glad to have her in her eye line, and another is terrified. She’s not her best when it comes to these alluring creatures, and humiliating herself in front of Crystal is not a pleasant thought. 

“Tie yourself to anything solid. If they get under your skin, it’ll stop you diving in after them.” She explains, even as she fusses over doing it for Crystal herself. She loops the rope around her and, once she finishes the knot, hands it off to Crystal for her to finish. “Quickly.”

Crystal doesn’t seem to notice her insistence, her eyes locked on the figures, who had begun their advance at a pace she could barely fathom. “Crystal!” She wakes to Gigi’s eyes, round and stressed, and wordlessly takes the bindings. 

Those who had time stuffed their ears with candlewax, while Gigi and Jackie work together to work the wheel. The sea fights against them, as waves crash against the sides, and it’s all they can do to keep the ship straight. They just needed to make it out of their territory. However big that may be. 

Gigi can see them now, closer and ghostly, sickeningly, green. They climb up the edges of the ship, humming their melodies as they closed in, and Gigi can feel the breath in her lungs turn cold. She can barely keep her focus on the task at hand, and doesn’t dare to check on the others. There was nothing she could do for them either way. 

If they fell to the sirens call, and hadn’t tied down, no one could save them. 

She can faintly feel Crystal beside her, close by but trapped in place at the sight of the sea monsters, and there is a faint twinge of fear in her chest. Gigi doesn’t want to watch her dive to her death, but she doesn’t want to end up that way either, so she keeps herself focused on the water. Its only when she senses Crystal backing away that she glances her way. 

There is a creature on the deck, only a few feet from them, and Crystal has squeezed her eyes shut at the sight. “Shit!” Gigi cries, because she is not so lucky, and her eyes fall on the siren. There’s a gruesome smile stretching across her face, revealing rows of jagged, rotting teeth, and Gigi feels bile rise up in her chest. 

She blinks, swallowing her nausea, and when she opens her eyes again, the figure before her no longer looks like a monster. Instead, it is an image of Crystal, in the tattered outfit she’s wearing beside her. This mirror Crystal is looking right at her, with half a smile and eyes like fire. Its all Gigi can do but keep her hands tight on the wheel. 

“Geege!” Jackie is gritting her teeth, her arms shaking with effort, and she’s looking at Not Crystal too. It would be embarrassing, because the creature clearly only has eyes for Gigi (locked in on a weak link, it seems), if not for the urgency of the situation. “Don’t look at it!”

It’s that moment that Gigi accepts the feelings she’s having for the new member of her crew. She can’t hide it when its standing right in front of her, begging to give Gigi everything she could ever want if she could just jump overboard. The rope around her waist feels tight and she realises she’s straining against it. 

Crystal (the real one) rests a shaky hand on Gigi’s shoulder, and it feels hot through the thin shirt she’s wearing. She looking at her double too, almost crying at the sight of it, and holds tight. Its grounding, enough that Gigi can tear away and help Jackie with the wheel. Crystal pushes her weight behind her to help keep it steady. 

There are wails and screaming below them, and Gigi can only close her eyes and pray to whatever gods may be out there that no one is dead. She isn’t sure she can handle that on top of whatever conversations she’s going to have to have after this. Not Crystal is closing in on them, singing a song that Gigi cannot understand, but that sounds like home cooking and summer, and a putrid smell comes with her. 

Gigi’s not sure how long they stay like that, the three of them pressed against the wheel to keep the ship steady, while chaos reigns the lower half of the ship. Its like time has suspended them in limbo, and she can hear the voices swirl around her like water, like she is drowning, but Crystal’s hand is steady on her shoulder, and Jackie’s growling breaks through the mayhem.

Its over just as quickly as it begins, and the sea is somehow bluer than ever on the other side. Like a dome of influence, the sirens territory is their own to control, and they keep it dangerously. However, they have no sway on reality, and the sun comes blasting back down on the boat once the figures fade away.

They are frozen in place for a moment. The heat is burning, but no one feels confident enough to open their eyes. There’s still a shudder running through them, shivering through them all like waves on a beach and it was bone chilling. But Gigi is Captain, or so she chants to herself over and over in her head, and she forces herself to look. 

The sirens are gone, and the sea is calm. Beautifully blue and clear. Above them, seagulls bark incessantly, and Gigi figures they must have gone off course slightly in the commotion, but doesn’t correct it. Drifting a little too close to land is better than back to those creatures. 

Gigi can tell Jackie is waking up from the fog too, already scanning the crew to make sure everyone is accounted for, and Gigi forces herself to speak. “I got it from here.” Jackie opens her mouth to protest, but thinks better of it, and unties herself to check on them properly.

Crystal hasn’t moved, is still pressed solidly against Gigi, and she’s shaking. Gigi’s knuckles are white against the wood, and she doesn’t think she could let go even if she tried, but she still needs to check on Crystal. She tries her best, it’s almost a grunt through her chattering teeth, and Crystal starts at the sound.

Her body is gone, and Gigi almost feels cold without it, despite the sun. She snatches a glance, and Crystal’s eyes are wide, staring all around her like she doesn’t believe it, like she’s never seen the sea or the sky before. Its endearing to watch her smile. Before she can comprehend that, or tear her eyes away for that matter, Crystal lets out a whoop. 

“We’re alive!” She cries, and Gigi wants to laugh, but she’s still in pieces with shock and lingering (possibly growing) embarrassment. “Gigi, we’re alive!” 

“I, ugh I know.” Gigi stammers, and straightens her aching back. At her full height, with the perspective shift, its almost like it was all a fever dream, just in her mind, but she can see the saltwater dripping down from the sails. It was very much real. 

She doesn’t want to say anything, but she knows Crystal will bring it up anyway, so she decides to keep her gaze focused ahead. Crystal is pacing around her, mumbling nonsense and delighting in her own continued heartbeat. It’s not until Gigi feels her hands brush her hips that she ever acknowledges she’s there at all. 

“I’m untying the knot.” Crystal whispers in her ear, and Gigi forces her body not to shudder at the sound. “Relax.” 

It’s impossible, and when the ropes fall away, Crystal replaces them with her arms, wrapping Gigi up in a hug for just a moment. Just long enough to fight a fire under Gigi’s skin and knock the breath from her. 

“Sorry.” Crystal says, when she frees her. “I know you’re not, um, good with that stuff.”

“What?” 

Crystal gives her an amusing look. “People.” Gigi almost argues, but Crystal cuts her off. “Specifically me.” 

“No!” Gigi says. “I like you well enough.” 

“I think you like me a little more than that.” Crystal has her cornered now, and Gigi’s sure she’s bloody red, but doesn’t break eye contact. “What do you think?”

Gigi has never had a way with words, and her thoughts are a jumbled mess, but her hands reach out for Crystal’s without needing her to decide anything. They pull her in, closer than she’s ever brought anyone, and even with the sun in her eyes, Gigi can’t see anything but her. 

“I like you, more than most.” Gigi finally says, and it’s enough to confirm any lingering doubt. Crystal closes in, ripping her hand away to wrap them around Gigi’s neck, and kisses her. Its soft, and slow, and Gigi has kissed people before, but not like this. Not without goading. 

Not with the sun on her back and wind in her sails, closing in on enough silver to keep them all for a year. Crystal kisses her like she’s never been kissed before. Gigi isn’t sure she needs anything else. 

They have been down on their luck before, and come out fine. This is new, and Gigi feels that maybe the extra few weeks at sea is worth it. 

Gigi’s hands find their way to Crystal’s hips, pulling her into her, and she doesn’t care about anything or anyone, and gives in to the feelings she carried around this ship since the other woman boarded. Just this once, she would give being unguarded a go.

**Author's Note:**

> There was originally more to this bit im not vibing right lately so take this! Please leave a comment and let me know what you thought!


End file.
